Baseball, San Marino changes to win again
After eight years, here is the Scudetto and San Marino returns to play the hare in the championship which (perhaps) will start in the first week of April.
«When we start again – underlines the general manager of the Titans, Mauro Mazzotti – those with the flag on their chest are always the favorite. For years we have been chasing Fortitudo, now our time has come, one year late ».
The work of strengthening, perhaps we can say of change, is well advanced. In fact, the launcher Quattrini and Palumbo, the catcher Lino, the first base Ustariz and the two utility-outsiders Leonora and Batista arrived.
«Next year we will have to deny the saying ‘winning team doesn’t change’. For various situations that have arisen, we have changed several players, I would say once again, because in recent years we have almost always rebuilt the team ».
Mazzotti goes into details. «Tromp, one of our best players in 2021, will go to Neptunus, Albanese, for a lifetime behind our plate, he has retired, someone has personal needs to look for something different (Giovanni Garbella, Sechopoulos, ed). All players who are missing in a winning group thanks also to that chemistry that was created last year ».
What is missing to complete the team? «The first foreign pitcher, a catcher who will stay with us until Morresi is in the States (mid-May, ed), in short, there will be many new faces that mean a lot of balance to put back together. Let’s not forget that next season, after two shorter years of championship, will come back as long as the classic ones and I consider the human factor as well as the technical one to be very important in building the team ».
The new signings, apart from Leonora, have a broad knowledge of the Italian league. «Since 2011, our philosophy has always been to bring to San Marino players who know the environment, know what they are up against, they are able to play two or at most three games a week, elements able to quickly get used to the European pace. Often this thing has paid off, without having to resort to super stars that have not always represented a good investment in the price-performance ratio “.
Speaking of not low price but very high yield, news from Centeno and Tiago? «We are always in contact with Centeno, he is playing the Venezuelan Liga, his team has been eliminated, but one of the five albums has been chosen in the round robin. Tiago will have to have an elbow surgery, a routine cleaning, when he gets back he will play again in Mexico, in case it would be a last minute option like last year ».
An opinion on the new formula? «On paper, the first phase shouldn’t be particularly intense, obviously I’m talking about San Marino and the other top teams. But beware, we are in a particular ‘historical’ period: tripping, unexpected events, Covid, a single visa, are all factors that can put you in difficulty and for a high-ranking team, not qualifying for the Poule Scudetto would be a disaster. for the rest of the season. So the first phase is quite easy but woe to take it lightly ».
Do you think we can start at the beginning of April or Covid will postpone the start of the championship? «If the preparation is done daily and professionally, two months of pre-season are enough. It is logical that in the first phase not all teams will be in top form. Then if the pandemic situation forces Fibs to change the program, we will accept the decision. I remember that two years ago they told us just a month before when the championship started and it was one of the most successful ».